James and Isobel
by iAMhisHOLLYWOODdream
Summary: James Potter knew from the moment he met Isobel Abbey that she was the one. There was one small little problem. She's a muggle. How can he handle his first serious relationship if he can't tell her he's magical?
1. The Meeting

**James and Isobel**

_**AN: I couldn't think of a better title, but I hope you like the story anyway. It could be worse I was originally going to name this James Potter and the Muggle.**_

**Chapter 1: The Meeting**

Godric's Hollow is a close-knit small town. The neighbors were all friendly and the crime rate was non existant. The last crime that happened took place over forty years ago. What most villagers don't know is that half the village is filled with witches and wizards. They don't know that it was a wizard, Godric Gryffindor, who founded Godric's Hollow in the first place.

Due to the stature of secrectcy muggles (non-magic folk) don't know that the Potters who lived at number seven Cottage Hill Road were directly related to the Potters who died forty years before.

Ginny Potter was in the kitchen making dinner. She was a having a little trouble with a new recipe that her sister-in-law Audrey gave her. Something was missing and she was determined to find out what. So she went rummaging through her nearly empty spice rack.

"Hey Mom" James, her eldest, came down the stairs and into the kitchen.

Ginny turned away from the cabinet and looked at her son. He was wearing jeans and a red shirt. He'd blend in well with the neighbors. "I need you to go to the market" she said.

James groaned. "Why me?"

"Because you're here. Al is at Ron's. Lily is shopping with Fleur and Dominique. And your father has locked himself in his office again."

James groaned again. He was headed towards his Uncle George's shop.

Ginny held up a spoon full of the soup for her son to taste.

James spit it out as soon as the soup touched his tongue. "What was that?"

"Dinner if you don't go to the store for me."

"Okay, okay what do you need?" he asked quickly.

"Salt, nutmeg, basil, …" the list went on and all and James tried to remember it all. James took some money from the muggle money jar. They always kept some on hand for emergencies. He walked to the local market.

James Sirius Potter just celebrated his seventeenth birthday. That made him legally an adult. He had asked his mother before he left why they couldn't just magick the spices needed. Gwaps five laws applies to food, but should ingredients really count? She told him to just go to the store like she said.

The market wasn't far away. James whistled while he walked. He was already planning out his back to school prank. Every year since his first, James and his cousin Fred pull a big prank during their first week of school. This year was going to be no different.  
>At the spice rack James looked at all the different spices and tried to remember which ones his mother told him to get. He grabbed salt and pepper because those were easy ones to remember. But what the hell is a paprika and who came up with a name like Horseradish? He immediately decided to skip those two and he grabbed some nutmeg just because it sounded like something his grandmother Molly would use. Cilantro? That didn't sound good at all. Then he decided what the hell and started tossing random bottles into his basket.<p>

James started walking towards the lines. He saw a sign that said Mars Bars and he faintly recalled his father mentioning that he used to eat those. He headed over to the display but wasn't watching where he was going and crashed right into a girl who was walking in the opposite direction.

"I'm sorry" the girl said automatically and she reached down to get her basket that fell.

James beat her to the basket and he picked it up for her. "It was my fault I wasn't paying attention to where I was going." He handed her the basket. He looked into her eyes and felt a funny swooping in his stomach.

"I'm James by the way" he said quickly.

"Thank you James" the girl said, and with a slight blush she walked away. James stood there staring after her for a while wondering why she didn't tell him her name back. Then he noticed a line was forming and he grabbed a Mars Bars and entered the line.

The whole time he waited in line he kept glancing behind him to see if he saw the girl again. By the time he got checked out he still hadn't caught another glance at her. Instead of going home immediately after he waited outside of the store.

It took about five minutes but the girl finally came outside.

"Hi, I thought I'd try this again" James said as he fell into step next to her.

"Are you stalking me?" she asked.

"Maybe" he said with a quick smirk. "I feel horrible about bumping into you and making you drop your basket. So I thought, in order to let me make it up to you, you should let me take you out on a date."

"I don't date strangers."

"I'm not a stranger. My name is James Sirius Potter. I'm seventeen. My mom used to be into sports now she writes for a newspaper. My father works for a hidden part of the police. I have a younger brother named Albus and a younger sister named Lily. See you already know more about me than most strangers."

"My name is Isobel Abbey. I'm sorry but I don't date guys I meet at the market. Thank you for walking me home though" the girl said as they stopped outside of a big white house.

"Isobel, I like it" James muttered. "I'll be seeing you around." He'd make sure of it.

* * *

><p>"What took you so long?" Ginny asked as soon as her son stepped through the kitchen door.<p>

"There was a line" James said.

"Yeah right, more like you couldn't stop flirting with the clerk and held up the line" James' younger brother Albus said as he entered the kitchen.

"I thought you were at Uncle Ron's" James said ignoring Al's comment.

"I was" Al said as he reached into the fridge and grabbed a can of soda "but then Aunt Hermione wanted me to try out this new dish she was making."

"Wait until you taste what mom made, you're going to wish you stayed over there."

"Get out of my kitchen, both of you!"

James went up to his room. For some reason he couldn't get the Isobel girl out of his head. It's not like James is inexperienced with girls. He had his first girlfriend at the age of fourteen. The relationship didn't last. How was he supposed to know then how clingy and needy a girl could be? James had plenty of girlfriends since then. It wasn't like he didn't have any experiences with rejection either. The first girl he ever asked out turned him down. He was a third year Gryffindor looking forward to his first Hogsmeade trip and she was a seventh year Ravenclaw who wouldn't been seen hanging around someone younger than her; even if he was the boy-who-lived's son.

So what was it about Isobel that made her stand out so much? Maybe it was the red hair. Maybe it was that sparkle she had in her hey diamond blue eyes. Whatever it was about her James knew he had to learn more about her.

At dinner he decided to broach the subject. "Hey mom, you deal with our muggle neighbors sometimes, right?" James said in what he thought was an off-hand casual sort of voice.

"Sometimes I deal with the neighbors if we run into each other at the store or when they first move in and I have to send over a casserole or something" Ginny replied back.

"So you know the Abbeys over on Blossom Street?"

"The minister's family? He lost his wife some years ago, she had cancer. Poor things, she was really nice. Remember when we first moved in here Harry she sent over that amazing apple tart dish? The church used to host fundraisers all the time. I wonder if they still do" Ginny trailed off thinking about the last time she left the house for something other than work. Being a writer for a newspaper was not as simple as she thought it would be.

"Why do you want to know about the Abbeys?" Harry asked.

"No particular reason" James said and he went back to his soup. He was surprised this was the same thing he sampled earlier, it tasted way better now.

"I bet the Abbeys have a daughter" Albus muttered.

James kicked him under the table. Albus chuckled so James kicked him again. The two of them began a game of footsies and Lily changed the subject to a beauty pageant she wanted to participate in.


	2. Shopping in London

**James and Isobel**

_I don't own any of the characters or places you might recognize._

**Chapter 2: Shopping in London**

Isobel Abbey was your average seventeen year old girl. She had a very loving father, Benjamin Abbey. Her mother passed when she was eleven. Her step mother, of two years, Arianna, was pretty nice as well. She goes to Sainte Geneviève, an all-girls boarding school in France. She had two best friends named Camille and Blaire. Isobel had a plan, after boarding school she was going to go to oxford, and then she would get a job as one of the best scientist to ever live.

Isobel was waiting after church on Sunday for everyone to finish speaking with her father. She wanted to go to London so she could go meet up with her friends but she had to ask permission first.

Isobel glanced at her father only to do a double take. Was that the guy she ran into at the market the other day? What was he doing here? Isobel knew every member of the church and she was sure this guy wasn't one of them. Isobel made her way over to them, they looked to be in a serious conversation.

"Oh, Isobel, we were just talking about you" Benjamin Abbey said.

"Were you?" she said politely while raising an eyebrow to the guy from the other night, a Mr. James Potter.

"Yes we were. I was explaining to your father how I go to a boarding school in Scotland and don't really know much about the area. At that point your father mentioned you go to a boarding school too."

"Weren't you saying something about going into London today? The two of you should go together" Benjamin said.

"I wouldn't want to impose" James said.

"Not at all, it would be good if Isobel interacted more with her people her own age."

Before Isobel could say anything another patron had required her father's attention and he walked away.

"What are you doing?" Isobel asked.

"What? I decided to thank you father for the wonderful sermon today and we happened to talk"

"You where here this whole time?"

"You didn't notice me? I'm hurt. I saw you up there in the choir"

"I turned you down so you turned around and appealed to my father, that was sneaky. And to do it at a church makes it even worse."

"Hey, I didn't suggest to your father that we hang out, he did that before I could offer. But I'm heading to London anyway my sister Lily's birthday is in a couple of weeks and I need to get presents not to mention my father and my mother both have birthdays coming up."

"I'll go, but not as a date."

"Friends?"

"Acquaintances"

"Ouch, I bet I can get that up to friend by the end of the day"

"You can try" Isobel said. As she walked out of the church she pulled out her cell phone and turned it on. She sent a text message to her friends telling them she'd meet them at about four.

"Where were you at all dressed up?" Lily asked as her eldest brother walked through the front door.

"Church" James said and he went straight upstairs to his room.

"Church?" Lily repeated, she followed her brother upstairs as he began to take off his muggle suit.

"What's her name?"

"Who's name?"

"The girl you're chasing after."

"Am I that obvious?" he asked.

"You made an attempt to comb you hair this morning" Lily said.

"It didn't work" James muttered.

"I know, it never does. Thank goodness I inherited mom's hair though. What's this girl's name?"

"Why so you can go and tell mom, and then she'll tell Aunt Hermione and Aunt Angelina and they'll tell all their kids and then the next thing I know the whole family will know. Fred won't stop taking the mickey and Uncle Percy will give me books on relationship advice and Nana will be wondering when I'll invite the girl over for family dinner."

"Speaking of family dinner, I hope you get back from your date in time to make it to family night at the Burrow."

"It is not a date" James said. By now he finished taking off his suit and he was standing in his closet looking through his muggle clothes.

"Then why are you acting all nervous?" Lily asked.

"Hey" James stepped out of his closet. "I never get nervous before a date. It's not a part of my nature. And I'm not nervous now. I'm just going to London to go shopping for your birthday gift. I could use a little feminine input so I invited a friend. Now if you don't want the gift I can stay home."

"Go ahead and go, but don't forget to invite your girlfriend to my birthday party. The whole family will be dying to meet her after I tell mom all about how you're acting nervous and stuff."

James threw a shirt at her. Lily ducked and laughed as she left the room.

James couldn't be too mad at his sister. He pranked his family members so much they love opportunities where they can try to get him back.

James put on a pair of jeans and a black concert tee. He put on a black pair of Converse he saw muggles wearing all the time.

James met up with Isobel outside of her house. She was wearing a dress with blue and white horizontal stripes and a big pair of blue shades.

"Do you have a car?" she asked.

"No" James replied. He never thought he'd need muggle transportation. "I suppose I could as my father if I could borrow his."

"Do you have a license?"

He has an apparition license does that count? Instead of answering he said "Do you?"

"Yes, I got my license when I was sixteen."

"Great, you can drive"

"And if I crash your father's car?"

"He wouldn't care he'd buy a new one" James said knowing they'd simply use a reparo charm on it.

"Because your family has money to waste like that?"

"No." This wasn't starting out well. He didn't want her to think they were snobs or anything. "Do you want to drive my dad's car? How else were you going to get to London?"

"I was going to take the bus" she said.

"Okay, let's take the bus."

James had only ever been on the bus one time in his life. The Knight Bus was not fun, Al was sick and kept throwing up, James fell out of the seat at every stop, and Lily wouldn't stop yelling at the conductor telling him what a horrible driver he was. James thought if anything, Lily's screeching was only making Ernie Prang drive more crazily.

"So what's your reason for wanting to go to London" James asked. He had no idea where all his swagger went, he usually isn't this nervous talking with girls. Hey at least he didn't bring up the weather.

"I'm meeting some of my friends from school."

"I have a cousin who goes to a boarding school in France" James said.

"St. Guinevere's?"

"No Boubouxtons"

"I've never heard of it."

"It's really private; they only accept children of alumni or something like that. My aunty Fleur went" James said. His cousin Dominique went to Hogwarts for her first year but she didn't really get along with the other girls in her house (Ravenclaw) so she transferred to Boubotonx for her second year.

"Well I hope she likes her school better than I like mine. My school is run by really strict nuns. We can't bring any electronics so no cell phones, no laptop, can you imagine?" James had no idea what a cell phone or a laptop was so he just nodded. "The dress code is really strict too. We have to wear the exact same shoes, our skirts have to be measured nothing shorter than our knees. There was this one girl last year who got kicked out for dying her hair pink. What's funny?"

"Nothing, you reminded me of my sister. She's always ranting about our school's dress code as well. She swears she isn't going to wear anything black after she finishes school."

"Your uniform is black? I guess it's not too bad. It must get hot during the summer though."

As they rode on, it got easier to talk to each other. Every once in a while she'd bring up something he had no clue about and he'd just nod his head or shrug his shoulders. They got off of the bus at Covert Garden. According to Isobel it was _the_ best and only place to shop in London.

"I'm not supposed to meet my friends until later so where do you want to look for your sister's present first?" Isobel asked.

"I don't know. What am I supposed to get for my sister who is turning fourteen? I used to just get her sweets but she made me promise I'd give her a real gift this year."

"You have been giving her candy for thirteen years? No wonder she wants something new. I should take you into a jewelry show."

"Jewelry is for my mom and maybe my Nana" James said thinking about how much it would cost. Then he changed his mind "I guess we could make a stop there."

They went to five different clothing stores but Isobel got tired of hearing "No way, I can't let my sister wear something like this… it's…it's…just no!" They went into a shoe store as well but James had no idea what shoe size his sister wore. Isobel found a cute pair of shoes for herself in a place called Destiny. Isobel dragged James into a store called Accesorize. After twenty minutes he got tired of looking at all the different hand bags and glasses so he just grabbed a bag and paid for it so they could leave. As they walked down a street James saw a sign that said 'Build a Bear' he took Isobel's arm and dragged her inside.

He looked at the area where a little girl was actually stuffing a bear full of cotton.

"This is awesome. I want to do this. Pick out a bear"

"What?"

"Come on" they went and looked at the different bears. James insisted on nothing green or silver. He kept trying to get her to pick out the red bear or the limited edition lion but Isobel chose a white one with multicolored polka-dots. James had way too much fun with the stuffing machine, he ended up over stuffing the bear.

"Wait, before you close it you have to put the heart in" Isobel said.

"Really?"

"It can't be real without the heart" Isobel scolded and she put a little red heart inside of the bear. They sealed the bear and Isobel went to look at the outfits and accessories. James went to the computer to get the official 'adoption certificate'.

After build-a-bear they went to an ice cream shop that rivaled Fortecue's Ice Cream Parlor.

Afterwards Isobel took him to a place called Lush, but there was no way he was buying make-up for his little sister. They stopped at a stationary store and Isobel bought some fancy paper for when she writes home. James picked out a necklace for his mom at a place called Kabiri. Afterwards they went to a place called Circus.

Even though there were barely dressed women flouncing around eating fire James rarely looked away from Isobel. James looked over the menu, it seemed like they mostly sold seafood.

"Izzy!"

James looked away from the menu as two women walked in. there was a tall blonde and a slightly shorter girl with dark brown hair walking towards him. Isobel went and hugged her two friends. The girls talked and giggled for a few minutes. James noticed how she kept flipping her hair.

"Who is your friend?" the blonde asked finally seeming to notice James watching them.

"This is James Potter, James these are my best friends Camille" the blonde, "and Blaire" the brunette.

"Hello ladies, Isobel has been telling me all about you" James said.

"Really well she's told us nothing about you" Camille said and she tossed Isobel a look. Next thing James knew Camille was two inches away from his face. "You'll have to make up for that over brunch."

"Let's sit down and eat" Blaire said quickly throwing Camille another look James couldn't interpret.

Camille and Isobel ordered salmon salads, Blaire ordered the rock shrimp, James decided on one of the few things besides the dessert that wasn't fish and ordered lamb chops.

As they ate Camille talked about the red bus tour she and Blaire went on earlier that day. Blaire kept throwing pointed looks two both Camille and Isobel.

After lunch James tried to slip away. "I know you ladies have a lot of things to discuss that doesn't include me so I'll just walk around the shops and meet up with Isobel later."

"You don't have to" Isobel said.

"Yeah, I would hate to think about you being all alone" Camille said.

From there they spent a lot of time in at the Jubilee Market Hall looking at arts and craft.

After Blaire debated for twenty minutes on whether or not she should purchase a handmade necklace the two duos split.


	3. I have a feeling

**James and Isobel**

_I don't own any of the characters or places you might recognize._

**Chapter 3: I have a feeling**

Isobel and James got on the bus to go back to Godric's Hollow.

"Your friends seem interesting"

"Well Camille showed a lot of interest in you?"

"Did she?"

Isobel raised her eyebrows at him. How could he not realize the obvious flirting, the loud over the top guffaws, and the way she kept clinging onto his arm?

"If Camille happens to ask about me the next time you speak to her you should let her know I'm not interested in blondes."

Isobel tried not to blush but the way he was looking at her was making it difficult. She started twirling her fingers through her hair.

"You didn't pick out anything for you father, I know you said his birthday was coming us soon too" Isobel said to change the subject.

"That's okay, I already know what I'm going to get him" James said. He wanted to get something that he couldn't buy in muggle London.

After they got off the bus he walked her home, naturally he carried all of the bags.

"So would you say I progressed to friend status?" James asked as they made outside of her house.

"Yeah, you can say we're friends."

James smirked. "Good, and by the end of the week I'll have upgraded to boyfriend."

Isobel rolled her eyes. "Who is to say I don't already have a boyfriend?"

"You don't, not yet" James said. He didn't know it for a fact but he had a feeling.

"I had fun today James. I guess I'll be seeing you around" Isobel said and she looked towards her house where she could've sworn she saw someone peak through the curtains.

"I had fun too and you'll definitely be seeing me around" James said. "Don't forget your bags."

He handed her, her shopping bags and with a quick smile and a slight wave he started to walk away.

"Wait, you handed me the build-a-bear bag. Isn't this for your sister?" she said.

James paused and looked back. "I never said it was for my sister. You're the one who made it."

Isobel went into the house with a smile on her face. When she got to her room she shut the door behind her and tossed her bags on the bed all except for the BAB bag. She took out the birth certificate and smiled.

**Date of Birth: **June 11th 2023

**Name: **James Sirius Potter

**Height: **11 inches

**Weight: **14 ounces

**Fur Color: **white with polka dots

**Eye Color: **brown

**Belongs to: **Isobel Anne Abbey

How'd he find out her middle name? That boy had tricks she had to admit that. There was a knock on her door and her step-mother Arianna entered.

"Hey, did you meet up with your friends?" she asked.

"Yeah, Camille is the same as ever. Blaire was excited to be here. It's her first time through England. We chatted for a while ate at Circus. Have you ever been there?"

"The cabaret?"

"Yep."

"It was pretty cool."

"So, who was the guy who walked you home?"

Isobel knew that was coming. She knew it from the moment that she saw the curtains shift when she was outside. "That was James, he lives over here. We ran into each other at the store the other day and today he asked me to help pick out a gift for his sister's birthday."

"Do you know his sister?" Arianna asked.

"No, but I'll probably meet her. I have a feeling I'm going to be seeing a lot more of him."

"A feeling, huh?"

* * *

><p><em>AN: Just a quick chapter, will update more after Thanksgiving.<em>


	4. Weird Band Names

**James and Isobel**

_I don't own any of the characters, or bands you might recognize._

_AN: Sorry if I haven't said it before, but **thank you** to everyone who reviewed, or added this story to their favorites, or story alert. And _**The Magic of the Night **_pointed out I haven't mentioned their ages, both James and Isobel are 17._

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 4<strong>

**Weird Band Names**

"So what you do is you go to the store and build your own bear right there" James explained. "It's really ingenious. Think about if you did something similar at the shop you can have the customers customizing their own jokes. Like an automated voice on a trick wand or…" James went on and on to his Uncle George and his favorite cousin Fred. They immediately began discussing other ideas.

It was the family dinner at the burrow. They all ate outside on stretched out tables. All together there were twenty six people. Twenty five of those people were family. The one odd person out was Travie Rogers, Dominique Weasley's long time boyfriend. Everyone was talking all at once and about everything.

James and Fred were flinging stunned beetles into people's food when they weren't paying attention. Al and Rose were having a fake wand fight. Harry, Ron, Ginny, George and Angelina were arguing about Quidditch scores and who really is the best team in the league. Hermione, Bill and Percy were talking very heatedly about goblin rights. Teddy was amusing some of the younger kids by having a baby turkey tap dance across the table.

Travie cleared his throat. It didn't work, people continued to be loud. So then he grabbed his fork and tapped it against his glass. Still everyone didn't seem to hear him.

"OI! Everybody shut up!" Dominique yelled.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at her.

"The floor is all yours, sweetie" she said.

Davies stood up and he suddenly felt very nervous with everyone looking at him. "Um…I just wanted to let everyone know that Dominique and are will be getting married next summer." He sat down and didn't look at anyone. All the women were gushing over Dominique. The younger girls all asked if they could be a bridesmaid or a flower girl. Bill was throwing Travie a dirty look muttering to his brothers about how he couldn't wait until their daughters were old enough to be engaged. James and Fred wondered if Dominique would be as pissed off as Victorie was when they pulled a prank during her wedding.

* * *

><p>A week went by and Isobel was indeed looking at James like she would a boyfriend. They hung out together a lot. She was surprised he didn't have a cell phone but he did have a home phone and they talked to each other all the time.<p>

They were currently in her room and James was looking around at things. The walls were painted white with blue and black butterflies everywhere. Apart from the bed she had a desk with a computer on top, a long black dresser, a walk in closet (not that he looked inside), and a bookshelf full of books and movies.

Isobel started laughing when he said he didn't know what an iPod was. Then she realized he was serious and stopped.

"My school doesn't allow us to bring electronics either," because they won't work there, "and when I'm out of school I don't really bother with them either."

"Oh well I am going to have to change that" Isobel said. She put her iPod on speakers and let the music play.

James nodded his head to the music. "What band is this?" He didn't really know any muggle bands besides the Beatles and who doesn't know the Beatles?

"Escape the Fate, you were wearing one of their tee-shirts when we went to the mall Sunday."

"I saw the shirt at a store and thought it looked cool. I didn't know it was about a band. I bought a Falling in Reverse shirt too are they a band too?"

"Yes" Isobel giggled.

They went though the iPod together and James couldn't believe the name of some bands. "What the heck is a Hoobastank?" and "Panic exclamation point At the Disco? Is the exclamation point really necessary?" he continued to look through the list. "Goo Goo Dolls?" nothing else needed to be said about that one.

"Stop making fun of their names, if you listen to the music you'll see they're awesome" Isobel said.

"Sure, whatever you say" James muttered.

"Okay, that's enough" Isobel got off her bed and grabbed the iPod from James. She changed the music to one of the more modern bands and told James not to touch it.

"So what do you normally do all summer?" Isobel asked.

James was now playing a game on Isobel's cell phone. "I hang out at my uncle's joke shop. I play…football with my cousins. I have a lot of cousins. When we all get together it is pretty hectic. We have prank wars that last all day or until one of our parents gets mad."

"You play football?" Isobel asked.

"Yeah, I'm on the school team" James said.

"That's awesome, you could help me out" Isobel said. She smiled and clapped her hands together. "We're having a fundraiser for orphaned kids on Saturday, and we're low on volunteers. You can be our football coach."

James looked a little uneasy. What did he get himself into?

Isobel saw his frown and said "Well, I mean if you're busy or something you don't have to do it."

"I'd love to help out. I was just thinking about something…else. I can volunteer"

"Awesome, you should bring some of your cousins too. I want to meet your family."

James paused he had already almost slipped up today when he was about to say Quidditch. Luckily he had a muggle-born friend who told him about football or else he'd have been lost. But could he introduce her to his family without telling her about magic? "My family is huge and they'd probably drive you away" he said.

"My family hasn't driven you away yet, so I doubt yours can drive me away" Isobel said.

It's not like her step-mother hadn't tried. Arianna made it clear from the moment James introduced himself to her that she did not like him.

"You should come to my father's birthday party. It's next week" James said. "I talk about you so much I'm sure my mom is dying to meet you."

"What do you tell her about me?" Isobel asked apprehensively.

"I told her you're the prettiest girl I ever saw, and that when you smile all of England becomes a brighter place."

Isobel shoved his shoulder and he laughed. "Seriously, what do you tell your family about me?"

"You don't believe I tell my mom all the corny stuff?"

"No"

"I really just bring your name up a lot 'Isobel says this' or 'Isobel says that' my brother thinks I'm obsessed. My mom did ask me if we are dating and I told her yes."

"You can let her think we're dating, I don't mind."

"Or you could be my girlfriend for real" James said. He put his arms around her so he could gauge her reaction.

"Okay" she muttered and she nodded.

James leaned down and kissed her. He tightened his arms around her pulling her closer and she put her arms around his neck.

"Hem, hem"

They froze and then jumped apart quickly. The one rule for James visiting is the bedroom door stays open at all times.

That's why Arianna was standing in the doorway with her eyebrows raised.

"Hello Mrs. Abbey, how was your day?" James said to break the tense silence.

"My day has been fine so far James. I just came to remind Isobel that she has badminton practice in twenty minutes and I wanted to know if she wanted a ride."

"Oh, yeah I totally forgot" Isobel said.

"I should be going then, I'll see you later" James said. He didn't dare kiss her again while her step mom was watching so they said their goodbyes and he went home.

* * *

><p>Thanks to cracked dot com for giving me the idea of using weird band names<p> 


	5. Football

**James and Isobel**

_I don't own any of the characters or places you might recognize._

**Chapter 5**

**Football**

"Dad!" James opened the door to his dad's study with a loud bang.

"Did you run all the way here?" Harry asked without looking up from the papers on his desk.

It took a second for James to respond. He did run all the way from Isobel's house, and now he had to catch his breath. James leaned against the door frame.

"What's going on?" Harry asked as he put down his work papers and swiveled around in his chair to face his son.

"You played muggle games when you went to muggle school" James said between gasps.

"Yes" Harry said puzzled not knowing where this was going.

"Good, because I have two days to learn how to play football" James said.

"Football?"

"Yeah, see the other day when I was with Isobel I almost let it slip that I play on a Quidditch team. At the last moment I caught myself and said football. I didn't think she'd call me on it. But the church is doing a fundraiser thing for orphaned kids at a park, and they needed volunteers. Isobel said there was going to be a football thing, and I should help out since I know how to play the football."

"Okay, I never really played the game myself but I know all the rules" Harry said.

After twenty minutes of listening to his father talk about the game and draw little diagrams James was completely bored and confused. James was considering this one of the worse times he ever had to sit through a lecture given by a family member. It was right up there next to when Uncle Percy lectured everyone on proper thick bottom cauldrons and when Aunt Hermione decided to gather all the kid Weasleys and Potters and force them to look at her sex education diagrams.

"Dad this is boring, and not working. Did I mention I only had two days?" James said.

"Okay, why don't you go to your Uncle George's house and get Fred and Roxanne and meet me at the Burrow" Harry said.

James was confused but he did what he was told.

Shortly after James, Fred and Roxanne arrived at the burrow Lily, Rose, and Hugo showed up. They all waited around in the back yard not know what was going on. More of their cousins showed up. Lucy and Molly came next. Then finally Harry showed up with Ron, Victorie, Teddy, Luis, Dominique and her fiancé Travie.

"What's going on dad?" Lily asked with a yawn.

"James wanted to know how to play football so I thought we could all help out" Harry said.

"But we don't know how to play football" Lucy said.

"Not yet, I'm going to teach you" Harry said.

Harry transfigured two twigs into goal post. It was going to be a girls verses guys game.

"So we just have to kick balls into that net?" Fred scoffed. "That sounds way too easy."

"The only person allowed to use their hands is the goalie."

"I call goalie for the guys' team" Ron said.

"Well I call goalie for the girl's team" Molly said.

"Five galleons says the girls win" Lily said.

"Now Lily you shouldn't be—"

"You're on" Hugo said and they shook on it.

Harry looked at Ron who just shrugged his shoulders. Well at least they were betting with family not some creep who wasn't going to pay like Bagman.

Five minutes into the game Harry knew he should've rallied one more person to be a referee. Hermione was the only other person he could think of that might know the rules and she was busy at work.

Hugo kicked the ball a little too hard and it hit Molly in the face. After fixing her nose Harry awarded the girl's a penalty shot. Then Lucy got revenge for her twin by jumping on Hugo's back the next time he got the ball.

The guys were rewarded with a penalty shot.

Ron was so in the zone he was singing the Gryffindor version of Weasley is Our King.

Every time Travie or Teddy got the ball Dominique or Victorie would distract them while Lily snuck in and stole the ball away.

"Oh come on, that has to be against the rules" Hugo whined after Lily stole the ball again. "Dom was distracting him with her lady parts."

Dominique and Victorie started laughing. James stole the ball back from Lily he kicked it to the other post and scored.

The score was 2-1 for the guys.

The girls weren't happy that they boys gained the lead so they redoubled their efforts. Most surprising of all the girls was Rose who claimed that she didn't like sports. She stole the ball from Harry four times, scoring on two of those times.

They played for well over an hour. Fred kicked the ball and it went out of bounds and towards Molly's flutterby bush.

There was then a large game of rock-paper-scissors to see who would go get the ball.

The ball suddenly game flying towards Ron and he had to duck so it wouldn't hit him in his head. Everyone looked to where the ball came from and was surprised to see Molly Weasely standing there with her hands on my hips.

"You all have been out here in my back yard for hours and no one even bothered to come in and say hi" Molly said.

"Sorry Nan/Mum/Mrs. Weasley" everyone said.

Hugo was the first to run over and give her a hug. "I am so hungry, after that huge workout. You wouldn't happen to have any food already made would you?"

Lily slapped him in the back of the head and she turned around and hugged her. "I would've come in to say hi, but I though you and grandpa might be busy."

Al flicked his little sister's ear.

"Ignore both of them" Al said and he gave her a hug as well.

Molly Sr. had indeed already made food for everybody. She had entered her kitchen in the hope for making a snack for herself and Arthur when she spied everyone playing through the window.

"What's her name?" Fred asked. It was way too crowded for them all to eat inside so some people went outside to eat.

"Who's name?" James asked and he took a bite out of his sandwich.

"The girl that has you building plushies and learning muggle games" Fred said.

"Her name is Isobel" James said.

"Is she hot?" Fred asked.

"Of course" James said offended.

"Don't act like you've never dated ugly people before. Remember Charity Reed?"

"I told you she asked me to go to Hogsmeade with her and I felt horrible about saying no, so I went with her. It was not a date" James protested.

"I bet you she thought it was a date" Fred said.

"Whatever this girl isn't like the others" James said.

"You know you sound like a girl right now?"

"You're the one who came over here asking about my relationships."

"True, we need to do something manly."

"Nan has got a garden that probably needs de-gnoming."

"Let's go do that, after we eat."

After they finished eating the girl's challenged the guys to another game of football.

At the end of the day James and Fred kept their word and de-gnomed the garden. Lily and Hugo were arguing about the score and who owed who.

Altogether it was a fun day full of family, something they hadn't had in a while.


	6. Saturday at the Park

**James and Isobel**

_I don't own any of the characters or places you might recognize._

**Chapter 6: Saturday at the Park**

James thought the day went off without a hitch. He got to the park early. He talked with Mr. Abbey and some of the other people from the church, while he helped set up. The area to play football was a little bit bigger than Mrs. Weasley's backyard. Booths were set up, and soon people started showing up. There were a lot of little kids.

James rarely ever got to see Isobel because she was on the other side of the park manning the bake sale booth.

When a little kid kicked him in the shins for the tenth time that day, James decided it was time for a break.

"All right little kiddies, how about we take a break" James said.

"NO! We want to play" was the unanimous scream that came from at least twelve kids.

"Okay, how about I race you to the Bake Sale Booth. The first three kids gets a free pie of their choice" James said.

He didn't need to say anything else because the kids went running.

James took a deep breath as he watched them go.

"Look like somebody is all worn out."

James spun around to see his cousin Fred standing there.

"What are you doing here?" James asked.

"Oh, I wanted to meet your mystery girl. So which one is she? Don't tell me it was the little one with the pigtails" Fred joked.

"Shut up, that was Coralline, she is seven and she lives across the street from us"

"Magic or muggle"

"Muggle," James said dropping his voice. "I think we're the only magical people here."

"I wouldn't say only. I left Louis over there somewhere so he could flirt with the Bakery girl" Fred said.

"What? He is going to use his veela charms on her" James said and he started to march off towards where all the baked goods were being sold.

"Yo, chill out. Louis, isn't going to steal your girl" Fred said.

* * *

><p>Isobel had just finished selling a triple fudge brownie to old Mr. Meyers when a bunch of kids rushed her booth.<p>

"I want a slice of strawberry rhubarb pie"

"I want a knickerbocker glory"

"That's ice cream idiot, the ice cream booth is over there."

"I want a scone"

"I want a banoffee pie"

"Eww that's gross"

"Is not"

"Whoa, calm down!" Isobel said. "What's going on here? Answer that one at a time."

"That guy" Susie Wright pointed behind her, "said that he was going to buy us all snacks."

Isobel glared at 'that guy' she was not surprised at all to see it was James making his way towards her with someone else.

"James, you promised them you were going to buy them stuff?"

"I said the first three people"

Isobel rolled her eyes and asked "Okay who were the first three people here?"

"I was first"

"Na un, I got here first"

"I got here first"

"You liars, it was me"

Isobel raised her eyebrows at James as the kids broke into loud arguments.

"Okay, I'll pay for them all" James said, they all cheered. "However, it's one item per person."

"Yea, I want this"

"No I'm going first"

"No, I am and I want…"

'Sorry' James mouthed at Isobel and she had to get help in order to satisfy all the kids.

A short while later James' friend, the one with reddish brown hair approached. "Hi, I'm Fred, James' cousin."

Isobel shook his outstretched hand. "I'm Isobel."

"It's nice to meet you Isobel. My poor love sick cousin has been talking about you non-stop since he met you" Fred said.

James rolled his eyes.

"Did he tell you he followed me all the way home like a crazy stalker?" Isobel asked.

"Did he?"

"No, I just walked her home. There was nothing crazy or stalkerish about it" James said.

"Sure it wasn't" Isobel laughed.

"Don't worry, James has always been that way. When we were little he had a crush on this girl named Jocelyn, and he used to follow her around everywhere. It was funny when a professor caught him trying to go into the girl's loo"

"That's not a funny story, Fred" James said pointedly.

"Sure it is. I guess I forgot to mention the professor who caught him was our headmistress. It was funny watching her yell at him for a long time. And then she pinched his ear and dragged him all the way back to our common room."

Isobel laughed. Fred started telling another story, this time about a girl named Lacey, but James grabbed him and pulled him into a headlock.

"Okay, that's enough. Fred I think there is a kissing booth somewhere around here you can pay a girl to kiss you. I want to spend some time with my girlfriend before I have to go back to playing with the kids."

"There is someone around here getting money to kiss people? Why didn't you tell me about this sooner, I would've loved to be a helper" Fred said. James let Fred go, and Fred strugged it off as if nothing had happened.

"And you still can be. At the end of the day we're going to need help with the clean up" Isobel said.

"Ooh look, there goes a man walking around with cotton candy, I think I'll go buy some" Fred said and he took off.

"He seems like a nice guy" Isobel said.

"He's my favorite cousin, and best friend" James said as he walked around the table. He put his arms around Isobel and gave her a kiss on her cheek.

"I miss you" he said. It had only been three days since they last spoke but it seemed like a long time.

"I missed you too. I know you probably thought we'd get more time to see each other today."

"No, I knew we'd both be busy" James said. "I didn't know how tiring the kids were going to be though."

"Oh come on. You're on your school team, you must play sports often. You shouldn't be tired after three hours of play" Isobel teased.

"In school people don't kick you in the shins, jump on your back, pull your hair, or cry when the opposing team makes a goal" James said.

"Maybe at your school. But at my school girls aren't afraid to pull hair, kick shins or cry when they lose" Isobel said.

'Hem Hem'

They both turned their attention to a new customer.

"Hi can I get a slice of treacle tart?" an elder woman asked.

"Yes of course" Isobel said.

James gave her another kiss on the cheek and a small wave before he went back to the football field.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Sorry it took me so long to update, I've been busy with school, I might actually have to study this time if I want to pass my finals in two weeks(oh the horror). I've also started on an Al Potter story and It's been consuming all of my time. I'm thinking about looking into a beta for it. Here's a sample:<strong>

"We have to tell him" Harry said as he paced outside of Al's private hospital room.

"We don't have to tell him yet. He is four years old, he can wait until he is older" Ginny said.

"What good does waiting do?" Harry asked.

"It will protect him" Ginny said.

"Are you sure about that? Lying doesn't solve problems it creates them. I know I've been raised off lies. The Dursleys lied to me by telling me my parents died in a car crash, they lied about everything my whole life and looked how that turned out"

"Don't compare us with your family"

"Dumbledore also lied and kept secrets. Damn it if he would've told me about the prophecy when I was eleven and I asked him why Voldemort tried to kill me in the first place there would still be more people alive today."

"You don't know that" Ginny said.

"Damn it, Ginny, I hated it when people lied to me and I refused to do that to my kids" Harry said.

"Oh, well if that's the case why don't you call all the kids together and explain to them about how you defeated He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named if you're going to be honest" Ginny said sarcastically.

"That is completely different" Harry said.

Ginny scoffed.

"I plan on telling the kids about everything, just not right now"

"Then I don't see why we have to tell Al now"

"It is his life, Ginny. Remember when we first got back together after the war. You told me you wanted to know everything that happened and not just the bullshit that I told the press. It is the exact same situation. You needed to know then just like he needs to know now." Harry said in a heated whisper. "You know what that unspeakable said earlier, he said Al's magical signature does seem to have seer like qualities to it. It's going to happen again, and it's no point keeping it from him. Yes he's four but he also needs to know. We can say we're going to tell him later, but then we'll change our minds and change our minds again. I know you want to protect him, but this isn't protecting him."

The two of them stood with their arms crossed glaring at each other waiting for the other one to break when someone cleared their throats.


	7. Harry's Birthday

**James & Isobel**

_The characters in this chapter (except for Isobel) don't belong to me._

**Chapter 7: Harry's Birthday**

"It is your father's birthday today isn't it?" Isobel asked.

"Yes it is, and if you want to back out of going to the party, I'll totally understand. We could do something else. I could take you out to a restaurant."

"I want to go to the party" Isobel said, "that way I can finally meet the rest of your family."

"Trust me, they aren't all that great" James said.

The party this year was going to be held at The Nook, Teddy and Victorie's place.

Isobel went to her father and asked permission to extend her curfew. She now had until 11:30, and she had to call at least twice. James had a surprise up his sleeve. He went and got his muggle driver's license. He was going to take his father's car.

Isobel was excited to be going to a party. It was probably the most exciting thing she'd be doing this summer, and there was only one more month left of it. The summer would be over soon and with it her summer romance? She hoped that wasn't true.

"Hey, are you ready?" James asked.

"Yeah, sure, let me just grab my purse" Isobel said. She ran up the stairs.

James stood around the Abbey's living room nervously waiting for her to come back. He looked at the different pictures of Isobel on the mantle. There was one picture he really liked. Isobel was wearing a bright yellow dress and on a swing being pushed by a woman with the same red hair and eyes. The woman had to be Isobel's mother.

"Hey, I'm ready" Isobel said as she came bouncing back down the stairs.

"Eleven thirty" Mr. Abbey called.

"I'll have her home by then, I promise" James said. He took Isobel's hand into his own and walked with her outside.

"Your house is that way" Isobel said pointing as he walked her across the street.

"I know. We aren't having the party at my house" James said and he walked up to a sleek black car. "What fun would that be? Then dad would see all the decorations before the party."

"You don't have a license" Isobel said as she admired the car. It was an Ascari, a very pretty, very expensive car.

"I went out and got my license" James said. "You trust me, right?"

"If you go over the speed limit we're pulling over and you're letting me drive" Isobel said.

"Ah, come on. Limits were made to be broken" James said as he opened up the passenger side door for her.

Isobel got in the car and quickly put on her seatbelt.

James smiled when he saw her put on her seatbelt. She was seriously worried. She didn't need to be. James didn't cheat when he took his driver's test, unlike his Uncle Ron or his Uncle George who both used magic to confound their examiners.

After being in the car for five minutes Isobel relaxed. She turned on the radio and leaned back into her seat. James didn't go exactly at the speed limit but he wasn't driving overly fast or reckless like most people his age would.

"So whose house is this party at?" Isobel asked.

"Teddy and Victorie's place. Teddy is my god-brother. A couple of years ago he married my cousin Victorie. They're a good couple because she is a drama queen and he is a calm and quiet person, despite his appearance. He usually has his hair dyed blue or green."

"That sounds cool. I rarely ever meet guys who dye their hair" Isobel said.

Well it wasn't like James could explain to her it wasn't really dyed but he was born with hair that changed colors.

"I like your hair, by the way, I don't think I've ever told you that" James said.

"You have, like twice a day, since the day we met" Isobel said.

"You'll have to remind me to say it at least once more before the day is over" James said.

* * *

><p>When they arrived the party was already in full effect. That's the way James wanted it to be. James had warned everyone that his girlfriend would be coming and he hoped they wouldn't use magic in front of her.<p>

James got out of the car and walked to the other side opening the door for Isobel. He tried to remember everything his dad told him the day before about proper car etiquette. They walked hand in hand to the one story colonial house. Without knocking, they entered the house. Music by the Scorching Sun was playing though out the whole house.

They said hi to various people who walked by.

"You're finally here!" Lily exclaimed when she saw them. She rushed over and hugged Isobel. "I am so glad to _finally _meet you."

"Lily" James scowled.

"Hush, James. Everyone has been dying to meet her. Did he try to convince you to let him take you somewhere else?" Lily asked.

Isobel's smile said it all.

"You are such a killjoy James" Lily said and then she turned back to Isobel. "My name is Lily, I'm James' sister. Come on I'll introduce you to the rest of the family."

Lily led them around making introductions. James rolled his eyes and kept sighing dramatically which Lily was ignoring. After meeting all of his aunts and half of his uncles James spotted his dad.

He gently extracted Isobel from Lily's tight grip and walked towards the center of the room where Harry talking to George and Ron.

"Isobel this is my father and my uncles Ron and George, everyone this is Isobel" James said.

"Happy birthday, Mr. Potter" Isobel said.

"It's just Harry" Harry said and he shook her hand.

George leaned down to whisper in James' ear "Fred was right, she's hot"

Isobel looked around, the house was big. The place was nicely decorated but there was defiantly something off about the place. Take the pictures on the mantle over the fireplace. Isobel could've sworn she saw one of the people wink. And one of the host, Teddy, when she first met him his hair was a bright blue but when she saw him later talking to Harry she could've sworn his hair turned black. When she pointed it out to James he said maybe it was a trick of the lights. He looked sort of guilty when he said it

And that only made Isobel more suspicious. Before Isobel could go more into it Grandmum Molly said it was time to eat.

They all went outside to the backyard where there was a really long table waiting with a lot of food. Isobel and James sat down facing the garden. She could've sworn there was something moving in the rose bushes. Al Potter who was sitting on her other side told her it was their pet cat, but that thing didn't look like a cat. It looked a bit like Mr. Potato Head. Isobel shrugged her shoulders figuring she'd store it away to ask James later when they were alone.

The food was amazing and the conversation was light, it mostly consisted of all the adults telling stories about Harry making him blush. James kept distracting Isobel so she wouldn't be paying attention during some of the wilder stories. She did however hear Ron say something about breaking Harry out of his Uncle's house and flying away in a car. Isobel probably thought he meant speeding away so she just let that one go. Something else did catch her interest though.

"Why'd your uncle say 'break out' like your father was in prison or something?" she whispered to James.

"My dad lived with his aunt and uncle growing up and they weren't very nice. They used to lock him up in his room for weeks at time only letting him out to use the restroom."

"That's horrible" Isobel said. She couldn't imagine someone being bad enough to deserve that. "Why'd he live with his aunt and uncle? Where were his parents?"

"They died when he was a baby. His aunt and uncle were the only family he had left" James said.

Isobel looked at Harry. She knew what if felt like to lose one parent but to lose them both…she couldn't even imagine it. James squeezed her hand, like he knew what she was thinking.

"He has us now" James whispered.

Harry did look happy now surrounded by his family.

Molly left and came back a few minutes later carrying a large cake. Everyone sung happy birthday and Harry blushed and tried to blow out his candles. Tried being the operative world because someone put trick candles on the cake. Molly didn't look to happy about that. And it got worse. When Harry went to cut the first slice of cake suddenly it blew up in his face sending bits of chocolate everywhere.

"GEORGE!"

Isobel turned her head towards the red headed man with only one ear like everyone else.

George had a smile on his face but he shook his head. "It wasn't me this time, I swear" he said. Everyone looked around and from the corner of her eye Isobel saw James and Fred bump fist.

Harry just smiled but Ginny and Molly looked less than happy. That's when the fireworks went off.


	8. Author's Note

I got so excited when I started writing this story, I had a lot of major plans for it. I've had a bit of writer's block with this story and I thought about doing a minor time skip. I'm just now getting back into my writing after getting over a family tragedy so I will be updating this story soon. So thanks to everyone who's read, favorited, or left a review.


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